All in a daze work.

May 28, 2018

An economy of lovehearts and thumbs up.

At the individual level, however, all social relationships are open to monetization or careerism. Artists, curators and writers have ended up at the same openings, dinner tables and panel discussions for decades, but the operations of their relationships and tastes have never been more visible. What happens when behavior changes to suit the network? Or art does? When every actor in a network is aware, painfully aware, that they are part of the same milieu, criticism becomes increasingly fraught. Social networking is generally hostile to critical conversation – being based on an economy of lovehearts and thumbs up. Socializing is now highly professionalized. A critic friend reviews an artist friend's exhibition and posts it online. The artist publicly thanks the critic. It all gets a lot of likes. They like each other's pictures of cats. You liked them too. (This is all a form of work, don't forget.)—Laura McLean-Ferris